I’m a Trade Analyst now

Today I signed my first contract and celebrated the way the rest of humanity does: by peeing in a cup and submitting a blood sample. Is this how the corporate world works, you get a foot in the door and all they’re interested in is your pee? The next 3 months will be spent working towards god knows what, because at this point I can’t tell anyone, not even myself, whether or not I’ll enjoy this.

I’ve come to accept that it’s really not a matter of doing what you enjoy, but of making that compromise that eventually allows you to do what you really want to do. Isn’t that what all those tedious hours spent in school are about? sure, you learn stuff along the way, but the edge you create for yourself at the end is what it’s about. It will be boring, but at the same time it’s an opportunity. I really have no idea where I’ll land at the end of this (I just hope it’ll be awesome and it involves a lot of arguing with people because I genuinely enjoy a good argument).

I was never a full-time anything and I never intend to be. That’s why I don’t see the point in judging people based on their job descriptions.The whole idea of graduating and landing a day job is completely overrated because at the end of the 8-hours you put in each day, you’re still not your job and your job isn’t you. It’s a huge part of you in that it demands a lot of your time and sustains your lifestyle, but there’s always a lifestyle that comes with it.

My lifestyle’s not cheap, and I know I could be resented for that, but it’s not like I’m not the one going bankrupt to sustain it. I like having fun, don’t we all? I don’t see the point in martyring people who work their asses off only to complain about how boring their lives are and how mediocre they feel just coursing along the same prescribed trajectories of school-then work-then wife and kids. It’s one of your responsibilities towards yourself to make things interesting, look at Richard Gere and his gerbil.

Three months, then we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, it’s just a day job. Real life begins after 6 pm anyway.